Kaleidocosmo - an Artistic Astronomical Mosaic

What happens when you look at a star through a telescope - and then put the image out of focus?

The subtle colour of the star is revealed.

Kaleidocosmo is a 360° mosaic displaying the colour of all 1,250 stars visible to the naked eye from the northern hemisphere (specifically, the latitude of Naples, Italy).

The size of each circle represents the brightness (or 'apparent magnitude') of each star.

A star's colour is determined by its temperature, as described in our fulldome film The Little Star That Could. A handful of stars are so colourful that the colours can be seen with the naked eye.

Yet only through a telescope - or a beautiful composition like Kaleidocosmo - is the full colour of the night sky revealed.

Kaleidocosmo was created by amateur astronomer Paolo Palma, and you can find out more here (free login required).

Film Type

All ages / Families
Length: 1min